


Burnt Clean

by Katrina



Series: 31 Days [22]
Category: Bleach, Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: 23-1-19, And has enough of a lot of shit, Because I can, Community: 31_days, Gen, Ichigo Dies, Of old age, She's a little bit lost, lady!Zack, scrape it down to the clean bone unbreaking, which is most of my reason for writing things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-24
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-10-15 07:19:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17524289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katrina/pseuds/Katrina
Summary: Dying didn't suck as much as he expected, and now Ichigo has a choice of what to do next.





	Burnt Clean

**Author's Note:**

> 23-1-19: scrape it down to the clean bone unbreaking

The thing about dying was that it peeled away everything that wasn’t important. A lot of the dead didn’t even recall the names they had carried in life. The ones who did were usually ghosts for a while before moving on, who didn’t have their memories fully wiped by stepping from the world of the living to the world of souls. 

Others were people like Ichigo. 

He had remembered who he was, and was a little surprised when he found himself in the Rukongai. When he had looked at the ticket, he had to laugh a bit. Zaraki. 

Of -course- he end up in the same district that spawned that madman. 

Ichigo knew he should head for the Seireitei. He really should. 

But it was quiet here. And he was young again. How, he had no idea. Ichigo always thought that you came to Soul Society the same age you were when you died. Not that it was important right now. He knew his friends in Soul Society would hear about his death soon enough. 

It had been peaceful, at least. Not what he had expected when he was a teenager, but it was the case. He had died in bed, old and happy with his life. 

Now he felt stripped down, bareboned and raw in a way he hadn’t since he had first had his powers ripped out. At least Ichigo could still feel them, but they were quiet, sleeping. It wouldn’t take long for him to recover, and Ichigo considered. 

He was older now, wiser. He didn’t necessarily want to throw himself straight into fighting again. Had spent years being a substitute shinigami. Years doing a job what was not something a human should have to do. Ichigo had been forced to follow a lot of rules, and he knew that he’d been allowed a lot of free rein. Did he wanted to put himself even more into that structure? Where they’d have more control over his actions?

Ichigo didn’t think he did. 

He could feel where Seireitei was, the beat of power pulsing in his mind as steady as a heartbeat. Ichigo had learned to keep his own power close, quiet. Had definitely cut down on the sheer amount of Hollows in town once he had figured it out. Rukia had mocked him for years over how long it took him. 

Now, though, Ichigo was able to keep himself quiet, blending into the background.

It was a nice sensation. 

“You are pretty good at that,” came a lazy voice from above. Ichigo jerked, spinning around and looking up, hand reaching for a weapon that was suddenly there. He found himself looking up at a woman with spiky black hair and blue eyes that seemed to glow. She didn’t seem too concerned about his actions, though she did watch him steadily now. 

“Who...?”

The woman smiled, then picked a fruit from the tree she was in, and tossed it down at him. Gathering a few more fruits, she let herself slip from the tree, landing lightly. 

“And you are a new face. I’ve been here for a bit, and I know most of the locals.” Now that she was closer, Ichigo was positive that her eyes were definitely glowing, a hint of green under the vibrant blue shade. “But you aren’t surprised by waking up here. And you got a bit of control of that power.”

There was something about her that.... Ichigo wasn’t going to say it was the same sort of energy he got from ghosts or shingiami. It wasn’t even like the feel of Ishida or Orihime’s powers. Of all his friends, she reminded him most of Chad in relation to power. Even thing, it was like nothing he had felt before. 

She was looking at him, studying his reactions. Then she smiled. “While I’m definitely in the wrong afterlife, I don’t think you are.” She held out her hand, grin bright. “If you plan on sticking around, I’d be happy to give you the tour. Help you kick a little ass so people know to leave you alone, too. What’s your name?”

A jerk of her head back showed Ichigo that he wasn’t the only one with a blade. Though the sword leaning against the tree was probably bigger than he was. How did she wield -that-? 

Ichigo did reach out due to habit, shaking the woman’s hand. “Kurosaki Ichigo.” 

That got no reaction from her, and Ichigo felt himself relax a bit. “You?”

“Hello, Kurosaki. I’m Zack. Zack Fair. Welcome to a very fucked up afterlife.”

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by random RP with friends. And the pair got along strangely well. You'll find most of my oddest ideas come from RPing with other, and I enjoy how they turn out. So you guys get weird stories. Hope you like them.


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